William Parsons
William Parsons (1785-1807) was an English poet, one of the Della Cruscans. Life Parsons was born in Sussex, the son of a flour-merchant. He lived in Chichester. In 1784 he travelled to Italy.William Parsons (1764 ca.-1828), [[English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center or Applie Technologies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, Sep. 2, 2016. Parsons printed verses in The World magazine during 1784 and 1785. At that period he was living in Florence, and he is mentioned by Mrs. Piozzi as being a flattering and agreeable member of her coterie in that city. In the Florence Miscellany of 1785, the joint production of Mrs. Piozzi, Robert Merry the Della Cruscan, Bertie Greatheed, and others, Parsons had the lion's share,Seccombe, 424. 30 poems. According to William Gifford, Parsons was considerably nettled at not being included in the first edition of the Baviad. "He accordingly applied to me," says Gifford, "(in a circuitous method, I confess), and as a particular favour was finally admitted.... But instead of gratifying the ambition of Mr. Parsons, as I fondly expected, and quieting him for ever, this reference had a most fatal effect upon his poor head, and from an honest, painstaking gentleman converted him in imagination into a minotaur." Parsons's attempts at retaliation in the Telegraph and other London papers were marked by the same puerilities which characterise his verses. Writing He showed his incorrigibility in A Poetical Tour in the years 1784, 1785, and 1786. By a member of the Arcadian Society at Rome, London, at the Logographic Press, 1787, in which his traveller's trivialities are eked out by imitations, translations, and complimentary verses to Mrs. Piozzi and Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu. His subsequent productions were: 1. ‘Ode to a Boy at Eton,’ London, 1796, 4to, intended to ‘counteract the gloomy conclusions’ of Gray's well-known ‘Ode.’ 2. ‘Fidelity, or Love at First Sight: a Tale verse, with other Poems,’ London, 1798, 4to. 3. ‘Travelling Recreations,’ 2 vols. London, 1807, 8vo. Parsons, who, when not on the continent, seems to have resided mainly at Bath, here defines his ambition as ‘merely to be classed among the mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease,’ but the ease is nowhere apparent. His earlier effusions are reprinted in nearly all his subsequent volumes. Recognition In November 1787 Parsons was elected a member of the Royal Society. Publications *''Elegy Written at Florence. Geneva; 1785. *''The Florence Miscellany (contributor). Florence: G. Cam, 1785. *''Postscript by the Author of the Poem on the Pleasures of Poetry; which it is intended to burlesque''. Florence: 1785. *''Odes''. Rome: 1786. *''A Poetical Tour, in the Years 1784, 1785, and 1786: By a member of the Arcadian Society at Rome''. London: 1787. *''An Ode to a Boy at Eton, with three sonnets, and one epigram''. London: T. Cadell, J., & W. Davies, 1796. *''Fidelity; or, Love at first sight: A tale; with other poems''. London: printed by Savage & Easingwood, 1798. *''Travelling Recreations''. (2 volumes), London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, 1807. *''Oakwood in Sussex''. Chelsea, London: printed by Dennett Jaques, 1811. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search resulte = au:William Parsons, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 2, 2016. See also *List of British poets Referemces * . Wikisource, Web, Sep. 2, 2016. Notes External links ;Poems *William Parsons (1764 ca.-1828) info & 5 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 ;About * Parsons, William (fl.1785-1807) Category:Year of birth missing Category:1828 deaths Category:English poets Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:English male poets Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets